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Barry Petten, Transportation Critic for the Official Opposition, said the Ball government has once again demonstrated poor winter road maintenance.

Thursday, February 7, 2019

St. John’s, NL (February 7, 2019) – Barry Petten, Transportation Critic for the Official Opposition, said the Ball government has once again demonstrated poor winter road maintenance. An ambulance was left fending for itself on a snow-covered West Coast highway without proper snowclearing support just weeks after ambulances were left stranded on the Avalon Peninsula.

The latest incident occurred between Stephenville and Corner Brook this past weekend when attendants were transporting a patient with a very narrow window for life-saving emergency care. Although it was hours before midnight and visibility was fine, highways between Stephenville and Gallants were heavily snow-covered, and a request for a plow was ignored.

Two prior incidents occurred on the Avalon Peninsula – one near Whitbourne and the other near Trepassey.

Petten said, “A pattern of inadequate snowclearing is impacting emergency response right across the province, and that’s very concerning and unacceptable. Ball’s Liberals are failing to do anything about a situation that’s happening over and over again.”

“This is a very serious life safety issue. Where is the Minister of Health and Community services on this? Does he even care that ambulances cannot do their jobs because roads are not cleared?” asked Petten.

“Winter is not an anomaly in this province. Properly clearing highways of snow is a responsibility that rests on the shoulders of the Minister of Transportation and Works. It’s his job to deliver. People are demanding answers about why he didn’t, and more importantly, they’re demanding that the government’s snowclearing operations be reformed so lives are not put needlessly in jeopardy.”